Tsunami

1st Dec 2010

John Sinclair (guitar), Billy Sutton (keys), Brendan Day (drums) and Bill Middleton (bass & guitar) were 70's jazz rock band, Tsunami. Playing classic Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report covers, one of the set's many highlights was a segue of Mahavishnu's "Hope" going into Billy Cobham's "Stratus".

Guitarist John died tragically in his mid-twenties of cancer (Christmas 1982), and the band soon dissolved. Bill Middleton and Neil went on to become firm friends, and were involved in many musical projects together during the 80's and early 90's.

While gigging with Climax Blues Band in Germany in 2006, Neil received a phone call from a mutual friend, saying Bill had died of cancer. Back in England, by way of a tribute, Neil decided to cover one of Bill's Tsunami tunes, "The River", and try to combine elements of Mahavishnu's "Hope" and Billy Cobham's "Stratus".

All the parts have been played on bass or midi bass.

To give the piece a positive impetus, the vocal sample early on is of Peggy Musson, from a 1968 BBC Radio 4 "Woman's Hour" programme, and later features vocals by Tijh Jordan.

The mangled "guitar" bits at the end of the piece are a mixture of Dave Day, Rick Sandford and Neil on piccolo bass, adding to the overall confusion.